If there's a word for you
It doesn't mean anything
I've got some words for you
They don't offer anything
You cold called everybody
But you haven't sold a thing
A bad idea gone funny
A pinch felt in a dream
You thought of everything but some things can't be thought
You thought of everything but one thing you forgot is you're wrong

And you better not be angry
And you better not be sad
You better just enjoy the luxury of sympathy
If that's a luxury you have
And you know no private bad
You know that that's the meaning of you're done
In a world that's not so bad
In a world time was killing in the sun
In a world that's not so bad
In a world time was killing in the sun
In the sun
In the sun
You took all that moment
And you left it in the sun
Now it's gone because you left it in the sun
Was a brave idea
Didn't mean no harm
Now it's burnt because you left it in the sun
Was a grave mistake
But how could you have known
The temperature, the distance of the sun

General CommentI have listened to A LOT of music in my life. I've devoted myself to listening to music, and I must say that the 90's is one of my favorite eras for music. That said, it BAFFLES me that this band is not recognized more for the perfect sonic balance that they were able to achieve in so much of their music. This song, among many others by Built to Spill, is one of the best songs of the 90's and it's infuriating that more people don't understand this, not because they don't like it, but because they haven't even heard it before.
I love the "and you better not be angry" verse. It says so much of how harsh the world and relationships are. You can't ask for any sympathy, because it's already understood that life's hard. If you don't get that then you're the only one to blame. Basically, take whatever pity you can get, because you won't get much.

Completely agree. BTS along with Modest Mouse have made some of the best music ever and get very little recognition for it. (I know MM blew up once Float On came out, but half of the people who loved Good News when it came out didn't even know they existed before then).

General CommentTo build on other comments....I think this song is about the futility of everything in life, and poking morbid fun at the futility of life. The good news is, we are so small that even big mistakes don't really matter in the scheme of things. The bad news is that we are so small that even big mistakes don't really matter in the scheme of things. The end of the song---the "grave mistake" is human life. We start with such high hopes, how could we have known how it would end so badly? But that's just the nature of being so small in the universe. We should know this---everyone has to suffer and has to die. And yet we are so outraged when these things happen to *me.* He's sort of saying, hey, this is what we are, get used to it. But it's also a lament because this fact sucks ass.

General Commenti don't know what they intended the song to mean, but to me it evokes that feeling you get when you go through a wonderful relationship with someone, but unexpectedly ran into a wall, and it all crumbled into a snowball of painful words no one meant to and awkward cold shoulders and painful distancing that magnified until every word they said turned every good memory into stone and dust..

kind of like when you have a bite of a rich cake but after a few bites the chocolate that first tasted sweet and creamy turned bitter, and after that all you can move on to remember is the clumpy bitter aftertaste...and whatever you try to do to remember those good moments, he just kicked every single one of those good moments in the sun, and now its burnt....gone.

General Comment"A bad idea gone funny" is actually a really moving lyric to me. It implies that you have someone who persistently does something over and over, not realizing it's a bad idea. Everyone else notices, but doesn't do anything to help that person.